If elected in November, Zohran Mamdani will be the third democratic socialist mayor of New York City in the last 35 years.
His predecessors included David Dinkins, a member of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) in the 1970s, who served one term in City Hall, having been elected New York’s first Black mayor in 1990. Bill De Blasio, a self-described democratic socialist, served two terms, leaving office in 2021. (When Zohran Mamdani was asked who he rated as New York’s best mayor, he named de Blasio.)
All three men, whatever their views about socialism, made their electoral careers through the Democratic Party. The efforts by the Socialist Party and other left-wing groups to rise to the top of New York politics were consistently met with failure. At the Party’s peak in 1921, its candidate, the well-known Morris Hillquit, won a respectable 22% of the vote, but a Democrat was elected.
In 1997, another former DSOC member, Ruth Messinger, won 43% running — as a Democrat — against Rudy Giuliani. Even this vote was far larger than anything any Socialist candidate ever received.
Mamdani is absolutely right to campaign as a Democrat and his victory in the Democratic primary practially ensures his election in November.
But he may find that winning the election is the easy part.
Back in 1969, the liberal Republican (yes, there were such things) John Lindsay was campaigning to win a second term as mayor. His campaign slogan was the memorable “It’s the second toughest job in America.” Lindsay had come under fire for a series of crises, including teachers’ strikes that shut down the schools for many weeks.
Mamdani, like Lindsay, is young and charismatic. He seems to have captured the enthusiastic support of thousands of young New Yorkers who have rallied behind him as they did for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020. His proposals to make life more affordable for residents of the city are hugely popular.
But he has a problem. Mamdani is an outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights. When at university, he founded a chapter of Students for Justice for Palestine — a group that in recent years has become notoriously pro-Hamas. Mamdani has foolishly used the slogan “Globalize the Intifada!” He openly supports boycotting Israel. Many in the Jewish community have expressed concern.
But many have not. Mamdani has a significant base of support among New York’s Jews, and swiftly won the endorsement of city Comptroller Brad Lander, who also ran in the mayoral primary. Lander is one of number of Jewish politicians who have chosen to support Mamdani. This is essential for Mamdani’s electability, as New York City has one of the largest urban Jewish populations in the world.
Mamdani’s opponents on the Right are having a field day, branding him an antisemite. His main primary rival, former governor Andrew Cuomo, facing defeat, also used the charge against him. Cuomo was desperately trying to divert attention from the fact that four years earlier he had been forced to resign after the state attorney general concluded that he had sexually harassed multiple women.
Mamdani’s sizable support within the Jewish community has been linked to declining American Jewish support for Israel. Netanyahu’s policies — and particularly the conduct of Israeli forces in Gaza — have played a role. It might even be argued that if Mamdani is elected with significant Jewish support, ironically he owes some of that to the Israeli prime minister.
Mamdani’s election is not yet in the bag. The incumbent mayor, the corrupt Eric Adams, is running as an independent. The Republicans are running Curtis Silwa, the founder of the red-beret-wearing “Guardian Angels” set up in the 1970s. Andrew Cuomo himself, though soundly beaten by Mamdani, is weighing an independent campaign.
For working people, none of those are palatable options. Mamdani will win the support of liberals and working-class voters. But if he wants to take his progressive vision further, he needs the support of the city’s Jewish community too — and to get that, he needs to listen to their concerns.
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity.